Porto goal-machine Jackson Martinez is in magnificent form for the Primeira League giants this season, and reports in Portugal and Italy today claim that Liverpool will move for the striker if Luis Suarez leaves Anfield this summer.
Last month, Portuguese newspaper Jornal Record claimed that Martinez - who has a €40m buyout clause in his contract - is on the Reds wanted list, and according to Spanish newspaper Marca today:
"Liverpool were about to sign him [Martinez] last season, but Porto moved faster and gave no option to the Reds.
"Liverpool could make a formal offer in the coming days if the the transfer of Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid goes through"
Responding to rumours about Martinez's future last night, his agent, Giovanni Fiore, told reporters:
"There is contact with other clubs at a more advanced level, though Martinez is not going to Italy. For now I can not indicate which clubs are interested, but contact has already been made with clubs overseas"
The Reds have been linked with Martinez many times over last year, and prior to joining Porto in the summer, the Colombian striker confirmed the Reds' interest. He told Nuevo Estadio:
"I am not in any advanced negotiations with Liverpool but I know they are personally interested"
Since arriving at the Estádio do Dragão, Martinez - nicknamed 'Cha Cha Cha' - has scored goals for fun, and overall, his record for Porto is pretty formidable:
* 33 goals in 38 games.
* Recently scored in 10 successive games.
* 18 goals in the last 17 games.
* Recently broke a Falcao's record by scoring 11 goals in 12 matches for Porto.
The Colombian recently responded to speculation about his future when he told Portuguese newspaper OJogo:
"Sincerely, I have not spoken with anybody but this is a good thing for my performances in the Portuguese Liga. Rumours are normal because I am working with success in Porto and scoring goals but I am calm, if there are offers, it does not worry me"
In mid-March, Fiore, confirmed that Porto would consider offers for the striker, and claimed that top la Liga clubs are in the hunt. He told reporters:
"There's a strong interest from Barcelona [and] an important team from Madrid. A few other clubs have inquired about his availability, too. Porto will study offers, but we're talking about big bids here given the player's importance to the club."
Last week, Luis Suarez reiterated his desire to stay at Anfield, but offers will inevitably come in for the Uruguayan this summer, and there's no guarantee that he'll be at the club next summer.
Juventus recently put in a €28m offer for Martinez, which seems a more likely price than the €40m buyout, and if Suarez leaves - which, despite the denial of Reds fans, is a definite possibility - the Colombian could possibly be a top replacement.
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Last month, Portuguese newspaper Jornal Record claimed that Martinez - who has a €40m buyout clause in his contract - is on the Reds wanted list, and according to Spanish newspaper Marca today:
"Liverpool were about to sign him [Martinez] last season, but Porto moved faster and gave no option to the Reds.
"Liverpool could make a formal offer in the coming days if the the transfer of Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid goes through"
Responding to rumours about Martinez's future last night, his agent, Giovanni Fiore, told reporters:
"There is contact with other clubs at a more advanced level, though Martinez is not going to Italy. For now I can not indicate which clubs are interested, but contact has already been made with clubs overseas"
The Reds have been linked with Martinez many times over last year, and prior to joining Porto in the summer, the Colombian striker confirmed the Reds' interest. He told Nuevo Estadio:
"I am not in any advanced negotiations with Liverpool but I know they are personally interested"
Since arriving at the Estádio do Dragão, Martinez - nicknamed 'Cha Cha Cha' - has scored goals for fun, and overall, his record for Porto is pretty formidable:
* 33 goals in 38 games.
* Recently scored in 10 successive games.
* 18 goals in the last 17 games.
* Recently broke a Falcao's record by scoring 11 goals in 12 matches for Porto.
The Colombian recently responded to speculation about his future when he told Portuguese newspaper OJogo:
"Sincerely, I have not spoken with anybody but this is a good thing for my performances in the Portuguese Liga. Rumours are normal because I am working with success in Porto and scoring goals but I am calm, if there are offers, it does not worry me"
In mid-March, Fiore, confirmed that Porto would consider offers for the striker, and claimed that top la Liga clubs are in the hunt. He told reporters:
"There's a strong interest from Barcelona [and] an important team from Madrid. A few other clubs have inquired about his availability, too. Porto will study offers, but we're talking about big bids here given the player's importance to the club."
Last week, Luis Suarez reiterated his desire to stay at Anfield, but offers will inevitably come in for the Uruguayan this summer, and there's no guarantee that he'll be at the club next summer.
Juventus recently put in a €28m offer for Martinez, which seems a more likely price than the €40m buyout, and if Suarez leaves - which, despite the denial of Reds fans, is a definite possibility - the Colombian could possibly be a top replacement.
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
This is the kind of player you add to the team, not as a replacement. Plenty of people still seem to think we need another quality striker in the team and that's how we go from being an OK attacking side to being a brilliant attacking side. We've consistently played a front three all season so the only problem is how we fit all our attackers into the squad rotation. Adding this guy would surely line up with Coutinho and Suarez, leaving Sturridge back on the bench where he doesn't really deserve to be. Suarez only misses games when he gets suspended so it's hard to see how it would work without forcing some talent to sit on the sidelines. You don't spend money on a player like Sturridge only to then relegate him to a sometimes role in the team. I wonder if we'd ever end up with a team that has Coutinho sitting in the hole behind a central striker, probably Sturridge, with two wide attackers like Martinez and Suarez. Or perhaps drop Suarez into that role, keep Coutinho out wide with Sturridge and Martinez through the middle banging in the end product.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, that's the kind of problem we want to have, not one where we wonder what to do if one of our stars becomes injured. You want to be forced to juggle talent and manage hurt egos, that's a much better place to be than asking young players to fill roles they are not ready for yet. I'd love to see talent like this join our team and then potentially have Sturridge or Coutinho come off the bench.
Alternatively if the club and Suarez decided to part ways then this would be a good place to start spending the unquestionably massive transfer fee we'd get, but I still don't think it's worth speculating over. The only people talking about Suarez leaving are the press and other clubs.
Suarez, the Club, Rodgers, Ayre, etc etc say he is staying. What part of this do you not understand.? IF he leaves, is just that, an IF. If my brother had boobs he'd be my sister etc. Stopped reading when I seen IF.
ReplyDeleteYes I think if FSG are all about our club this is the player to partner Suarez not replace him . Also Isco for long term Gerrard replacment Douglas or Debe Cover for lucas and we are going for champions league but FSG are More intrested in FSG
ReplyDeletewe do not need a replacement for suarez we need back up for suarez it,s simple really if we want to get back in the big time we have to keep him and sign players like martinez and eriksen to play with him fsg need to back rodgers(rather than undermining him with a committee) and the club or admit they can not fourful the fans expectations and as a lfc fan i do not think to be at least challenging for the top four is setting my expectations to high,
ReplyDeleteYour absolutely right, you look at next season & think all the top 4 teams will take it to another level esp if they get their rumoured targets-Ronaldo (mancs), Falcoa (Chelski/mancs), Remy arsenal etcetc. If we're to keep up we need to ADD some serious fire power cos reality is we need to turn a whole lot of draws/losses to bottom 10 teams into wins. This is why mancs are successful, they have more 1-0 wins across the board, meaning they barely lose. We have sporadic 4/5-0 wins with more draws & losses to teams which should beat. If we're thinking big we need to be spoilt for choice upfront & if needed keep a big name on the bench in other words strength in depth. This is a characteristic of a top team, my fear is our inferiority complex won't allow us "to manage hurt egos". No point having a cracking first 11 then the bench is tripe, Adam Griffin well said!
ReplyDeletethe guy to replace Suarez has to replace Suarez. He has to do what Suarez does, which is to tear a defense apart single handed at times. I do not believe Martinez fits this profile because though he seems a good forward he is dependent on service.
ReplyDeleteguys its simple.we dont have money.we musnt sell suarez but we must buy martinez.we should sell skertel and coates for a combined 20m.surely if we sell assaidi for 3m the 23m is enough to buy martinez.we then get 10m for carol from westham but make them give us momo diame over and above the 10m. lets use the 10m to buy a good defender say for 7m in europe.lets sell spearing,pacheco for a combined 7m, add to the remaining 3m and we have 10m.lets sell flanagan for 2m,downing for 8m and we have 20m.this is enough to buy ericksen or mihktariyan ( for 15m) leaving a balance of 5m.add the 20m which the owners are reportedly giving us then u have 25m more to spend.its about being shrewd only and rodgers needs to be like that
ReplyDeleteSo what i said you said it in your way ame thing buy and sell ????? FSG Only diffrence is you thinking Rodgers finishing 7th is great and him buying cheap players that he trained is good
ReplyDeleteI want to see us play hardball over ANDY CARROLL.He's the perfect striker for WEST HAM's long ball style but somehow moaning from BIG SAM about how they can't afford our valuation has knocked 5m off his price tag.
ReplyDeleteWe got screwed by JUVENTUS and MILAN with AQUILANI.Then sold him at a low price in desperation just to get his wages off our books.Lets show we're not the soft touch off football by sticking too our guns and not letting him go on the cheap.
how much $ do we need to for next season? (if majority flop still remain at LFC)
ReplyDeleteIf we got rid of all our flops or players that aren't good enough 70% of our squad would be gone this summer.You don't sell players at a price the buying club set.If he's your player you set a price and whoever wants him meets that number!
ReplyDeleteReina 10mn, Carroll 12mn, Skrtel 12mn, Coates 6mn = 40mn + 20mn transfer kitty. 60mn should be enough for reinforcement. I am sure Suarez will stay.
ReplyDeleteI hope someone like Eriksen/Moutinho/Isco comes along with strong DM like Diame/M'villa. Obviously couple of CD is imminent, may be Douglas/Pearce but I would rather prefer Skrtel and Coates to stay. Goalkeeper is another important transfer, again I would like Reina to stay but am sure someone like Tim Krul will come in, young and Newcastle is going down so should be easy.
I wouldn't mind SIMON MIGNOLET at SUNDERLAND so I'm praying for some of that WIGAN/MARTINEZ end of season magic!
ReplyDeleteSwap Reina?
ReplyDeleteNot maybe, definitely.We buy high and sell low!
ReplyDeleteI like STEGEN and I always look out for him when i watch the BUNDESLIGA highlight show.BEGOVIC is another good keeper.We have plenty of quailty potential replacements for GK.
My main worry is who will be the starting CB's next season.
If we went for TELLO where does COUTINHO play?
ReplyDeleteRAHEEM STERLING's progress would be halted too!
JC...D...Did you just stick up for Rodgers? ...fsg need to back rodgers(rather than undermining him with a committee)...Seriously, Who are you and why have you hacked Jason's computer???
ReplyDeletemeant back him or sack him;-) rodgers stated he was in full charge of all transfers when he came to the club ,now they have a committee,so either fsg are using him as a puppet or rodgers was talking shite but if rodgers was told that when he signed then fsg are losing patiants with him
ReplyDeleteclubs like chelsea and man utd manage with lots of players, afterall its quality in depth that any big club wants isnt it? plus coutinho is way more effective when he plays centrally so thats not an issue in this case.
ReplyDeleteA front 3 of Suarez,Martinez,Sturridge with Coutinho pulling the strings & feeding those 3 from a central position would be one hell of an attack. Gerrard & Lucas as 2 ball winning midfielders in the centre plus watching Coutinho he is very good at harassing players & taking the ball back too. Only thing is back up for the midfield Hendo,Allen,Shelvey do any of them have what it takes to do what Coutinho can do or play in the more holding roles like SG & LL? Im not to convinced. In that case I think we need another solid ball winning type midfielder to play a formation like this which does look like the preferred formation BR likes to use. But if you have an attack like fore mentioned your defenders can concentrate on what they are there to do first & foremost defend so your not left too exposed when your wingbacks are bombing forward all the time. Thats how I see it anyway Im not a premier league manager tho lol
ReplyDeletesince they r flop, other team wont pay over d odd rite? how much our owner willing go give this coming summer? izzit our financial still affected by carroll buy?
ReplyDeletePorto is great at marketing and overcharged price the player. So better find other players.
ReplyDeleteTBH don't think there is any chance of Rodgers being sacked anytime soon. I think he is safe enough in terms of having time building his own team. Problem we have at the moment is there is never going to be enough funds available to spend like 2 summers ago unless we get major investment. I don't think he's a puppet either, as he made it quite clear he wasn't going to work under a director of football (Which was FSG's preferred setup).
ReplyDeletewhy not huntelaar a very good finisher
ReplyDeleteWell the Suarez to athletico transfer isn't going to happen so this is a non starter!
ReplyDelete...Huh? No wait...My maths is shocking but Carroll alone cost more than Borini, Sturridge, Coutinho and Assaidi. Downing cost nearly 4mil more than Allen and Yesil..Haven't even included Henderson (16m), Adam (7.5mil), Suarez (22.7mil), Coates (7mil) and Enrique (6mil)...
ReplyDeleteYes, we do want depth but do you really think he'll leave BARCELONA to sit on our bench or be a squad player?
ReplyDeleteCOUTINHO plays better centrally but the balance of the team will suffer against good teams.That's why ERIKSEN is on our radar he would give us the creative spark from central but would be more solid defensively.
If league position was determined by how soft or lightweight you are we'd be challenging for honours.Fans eyes catch the pretty stuff with ease a pass or dribble but positioning and the balance of the team goes unnoticed by some.
50 million off torres suarez was already signed or so were told
ReplyDeleteSuarez, the Club, Ayre, everyone has said he is staying, no point in this article. I posted this yesterday when I first seen this article, but it was removed, because it made too much sense. Selecting the posts that endorse your articles, and removing those that do not, is Journalistic CHEATING.
ReplyDeleteClubs will pay for what they need.ANDY CARROLL for LFC is a bad fit/flop.WEST HAM is a different story.CARROLL is the best striker they can get for their long ball football.So they value him more than good footballing teams.
ReplyDeleteIf I knew the exact amount we're going to spend this summer I'd make a huge bet with PADDY POWER.FSG won't give us a kings ransom but does that mean you have a garage sale with half price on everything? If so tell me what you have selling on EBAY.
Yes,we're still affected by poor signings made in the recent past so you maximise what you have to sell,not give players away for bargain prices.
We dont have the money people say, why? We have very wealthy owners who have splashed A LOT of cash about so far, give them a break they need to recoup on what KK pissed up the wall, if they see an investment opportunity I assure you the team to be fighting for it would be Liverpool with FSG backing the move. Its simple business they wont pass up on making a Dollar if they see it
ReplyDeleteGood player and if we have to replace Suraez, a proven scorer is a must, but really are we not looking at spending at the wrong end of the team? that said Benteke would be a good bet if the kind of money that would be generated by the sell of Suraez (although i bet Chelsea sign him with the return of Rafas replacement)
ReplyDeleteTwo quality centre backs need to be the priority, One if we are going to blood either Wisdom or Kelly seriously for the following season. i also think a defensive midfielder would be money well spent
I don't see us selling anyone. Why would we? I want to see someone from our current squad rotting on the bench and their career in threat of ending before we let them go. That's hard on the players, but they would still be in a position to fight for their place, if they are good enough. The only players we'll let go are potentially the ones with those massive contracts, one of the few reasons I think we might be considering selling Pepe. Otherwise I think FSG are smart enough to know that you can't be in a sell to buy mode and hope to improve the team. Buy first, then if you find certain players are no longer needed then simply let them go for a decent fee.
ReplyDeleteHonestly? I think Skrtel is going nowhere. I know people think he's got his frailties and JC has done him out of a spot this season, but I think Rodgers still wants him there. He just needs him to grow as a player and get him talking more. We don't have a leader in defence once JC is gone. Even when he's screaming at foreign players in an incomprehensible scouse accent, he's still getting their attention. Skrtel and Agger need to step into that role and take charge, and I think Rodgers will give them that responsibility.
What are you 12 ?
ReplyDeleteBecause getting games at liverpool is better than sitting in between Reserves and Bench for Barca.
ReplyDeleteAlso he can play both sides of the field and with Henderson, Coutinho and Suarez all Having a guy at the central role this season i see no problem with bringing him in.
The Unbalance of the team with Coutinho centrally comes more from Henderson Being wide IMO, Also Downing is playing very good for us but realistically he's going to be getting slower and with FSG's and Rodgers Policy i cant see him around for another 5 years.
As for Sterlings progress being halted, Competition breeds improvement and wheres the problem with Tello and Sterling out wide with Coutinho central?
we need more than just starters, thats one of the main problems we had, No Depth.
He's at a reasonable price, About the same amount of experience as Coutinho had (Also some may argue that it is harder to get into the Barca than into the Inter one) and most importantly he's Young and fits the Policy FSG have in place and the style BR is trying to instill.
I say Sign him and let the competition begin and the best player plays
i would like to keep reina but if he was dead set on leaving it wouldnt hurt i guess
ReplyDeleteHAZEYMATT, TELLO has started 1 in 3 games in the league and has been involved in half of their games when you count coming off the bench!
ReplyDeleteIt's not like he's getting no games.
HENDERSON has had a redemption season after a nightmare first year.I wouldn't blame him for the team lacking balance.
I want us to start thinking before we sign players.Spending 26m on ALLEN and BORINI both bench players is a waste of money.When you have a first team that can compete then you think about making the bench stronger!
i dont want us wasting money, i see us spending the 8million euros for Tello as a cheaper investment than Coutinho that arguably suits the BR philosophy more. (im not dissing Coutinho i love that signing, but if you wanna play like barca signing a barca player wouldnt hurt).
ReplyDeleteim just saying theres no reason to worry about which one will play when realistically the both could and once again Depth was a huge issue this year so why not adress the need.
I apologise 10m euros, so its actually a similar fee to coutinho.
ReplyDeleteAlso i wasnt canning Henderson he has been superb this season.
ReplyDeleteBut as you put it before people need to look at positioning as defensive work.
When Henderson plays wide left he gets drawn inside too often and doesnt always track the fullback (as we saw againts everton when Enrique gave him a spray).
So just because he improved doesnt mean he automatically gets a free pass when he doesnt do the right thing in a different position.
IMO Hendo shouldnt play wide as i like his physicality centrally
You can replicate a style without signing players from the side you want to copy.I'm not giving HENDO a pass, i just disagree with you.He gets drawn inside because he's doing COUTINHO's dirty work and you want him to track fullbacks too.HENDERSON doesn't have a S on his chest!
ReplyDeleteYou're just giving strength to my point which is COUTINHO should play out wide and occasionally cut inside especially when SUAREZ comes back and TELLO is not needed unless you give him DOWNING's spot but I'm not sure how effective he'll be on that side of the field.
You replied to the points you somewhat had a answer for and said nothing about the games TELLO is getting.I think because of that this transfer is very unlikely to happen!
Very true - I find it hard to believe that Porto would sell Martinez for a decent fee after he's proved such a success for them.
ReplyDeleteWe should've snatched him up when we had the chance last summer. A front 3 of Suarez, Martinez and Sturridge, with Coutinho behind them, would've definitely been a Champions League calibre attack.
Even without the rich owners, just being in the Premier League makes most of its clubs richer than most European clubs anyway!
ReplyDeleteExactly Right.
ReplyDeleteThey knew how much he would cost to keep when they signed up the loan deal. Stick to it, or close to it, or forget it I say